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“I love the idea,” said Nazem Kadri, the Leafs’ leading scorer. “I think it would be great for the city. For all those people who can’t, unfortunately, make it to our games, there’d be a second option.

Indeed, there are many hurdles. The building isn’t built. The would-be owners are saying they could make a go of it without an NHL team. The Leafs might put up all sorts of legal challenges to hold on to their local monopoly. The league is not talking about expansion and is loath to relocate teams.

But the idea is intriguing.

Long Island, N.Y., native Mike Komisarek remembers Islanders-Rangers games so intense that fans fought in the stands.

“My dentist had second-row seats off the glass,” said Komisarek. “There was fights in the stands all the time. I remember the backup goalie, I think it was Jamie McLennan, looking back in the stands while the game was going on checking out who’s winning the fights. The fans were beating the snot out of each other. That was back in the day.”

New Jersey native James van Riemsdyk — who grew up a Rangers fan — remembers Devils-Rangers games and Flyers-Rangers games that reached another level of crazy. “I remember one game, Ulf Samuelsson tackled Eric Lindros with 20 seconds left and he was offside, but they kept holding the puck outside and the Rangers couldn’t get the puck, so the game just ended with Samuelsson holding him on the ice for like 20 seconds. That was pretty funny.”

And Randy Carlyle — who coached in Anaheim — said Kings-Ducks games were something special.

“They (the Kings) were the No. 1 rival, for sure,” said Carlyle. “The L.A. season ticket holders would come down. Our season ticket holders would go up to L.A.”

The proposed $325-million Markham arena has its detractors. Not everyone is happy with the municipality’s cost-sharing arrangement with GTA Sports and Entertainment and its financial backer, Remington Group. The financial framework proposes that the city borrow $325 million and Remington would pay back half over 20 years.

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment is playing its next move close to its chest.

“Obviously, as someone in the sports and entertainment business, we are watching the story with interest, but we have not studied the necessity for another arena in the GTA so I don’t have a point of view about it,” said MLSE president Tom Anselmi.

“As for another NHL team in Ontario, we have been consistent in the past, that there is no sense speculating. The topic comes up about every two years. If or when the league presents a recommendation on relocation or expansion to the board of governors, we will analyze it and provide our perspective at that time.”

An intriguing development was the appearance before Markham council of Boston lawyer Paul Kelly, former executive director of the NHL Players’ Association, who spoke in support of the arrangement. He said the project represents “the GTA’s best shot” to get an NHL franchise.

In 2009, the NHL even conceded to a Phoenix court during the Coyotes bankruptcy hearing that a second team in Southern Ontario would be a financial success.

The players, who are due to receive 50 per cent of hockey-related revenue under the new collective bargaining agreement, seem to like the idea of having more teams in Canada.

“We play in a great hockey market with tons of fans,” said Komisarek, the Leafs’ representative on the NHLPA. “There’s no passion for hockey like there is here in Ontario. I don’t know how a team would do up in Markham, but there are plenty of hockey fans to go around. I’m sure it would create another huge rivalry.

“Anytime you play in a Canadian city, the building always has a buzz. There’s electricity. There’s great atmosphere. The fans not only are knowledgeable, they’re very passionate and into the games.

“Some of these markets down south, the building is a little bit quieter, it doesn’t have that same feel to it. I know guys — especially guys from other teams that play in the south — always enjoy coming to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary. They toss around the idea of a team in Quebec City. Now Markham is coming out. I think it would be great for the game.”

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